need help selecting a unit for a route 66 trip

[rich_1989]

hi guys, this is my first post on the forum.

me and my partner are traveling to the states next month to drive route 66, this is a bit of a hard road to follow as alot of it has been replaced with interstates and its not signed posted in most areas.

fortunate for me, a very kind chap on the web has made 8 different .gdp route files for a garmin sat-nav

now i currently use my cars built in sat-nav so i dont actually have a unit to take with me so we are looking to buy one from, preferably second hand and no more than £80, with the intention of selling it when we get back.

So my question to you expects is this:

What would be a good sat nav model to buy second hand which will accept the route files i have? i dont mind converting them to another format as i am quite IT literate. i simply need somthing which will work in the USA and handle the large route files

Thanks guys

[sussamb]

I don't recognise .gdp files, did you mean .gdb files?

You'll need to convert these to .gpx files, but only some Garmin auto satnavs will accept routes.

If you can find one second hand the 14xx series would be the one I'd choose.

Bear in mind though that if bought in the UK it's unlikely to have a US map installed.

[rich_1989]

Thanks sussamb

yes its .gdb sorry, i can convert to .gpx no problem

I bought a garmin 3760T from ebay but it was faulty so having to return it.

is there anyway to load a garmin with opensource US maps or will they only take the paid garmin maps?

any other models anyone would recommend would be great!

[sussamb]

Any nuvi will take OSM maps provided there's space

[rich_1989]

Thanks again, pretty sure the ones im looking at come with micro SD slots so space wont be an issue.

quick question, if i buy say this satnav:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GARMIN-NUVI-1400-SERIES-WITH-BOX-/121156857773?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_GPSSystems_GPSSystems&hash=item1c3582efad

and i put a micro SD card in it

would i simply be able to load a "free" US maps into it, then load the routes into it?

the routes have quite alot of routepoints/waypoints, will this make any difference?

[sussamb]

You should be able to, although there's a limit to number of waypoints in a route, for a nuvi it's 50.

[rich_1989]

Thanks

Sorry for all the questions, just wanna make sure when i get to america its not gonna all go wrong. one last question, with the limit being 50 way-points does that have any affects on the amount of route points? i read they were different.

[sussamb]

Sorry, waypoints, via points, route points ... various folks refer to them in different ways.

But I'm wrong ... the later nuvis now accept 200

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B27edcdb0-0c86-11dd-dc9c-000000000000%7D

Bear in mind that any GPS will calculate the route based on the map loaded on it and the settings on the GPS, so it's quite possible you may still not follow exactly the routes sent to you.

[rich_1989]

last question i promise ;)

maybe just about to buy a 1440, or 1410, or 1491 based on your recommendation.

have these units got the highest waypoint count out of all of the satnavs available?

just need a unit which can take the large routes

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